Ex-deputy Is Charged With Firearm Impropriety

April 11, 1985|By Deborah Petit, Staff Writer

Former police Detective Roger J. Smith was indicted Wednesday for improperly unholstering his gun, a charge arising from an accidental Valentine`s Day shooting at the Palm Beach County Sheriff`s Office that left another officer paralyzed from the waist down.

The grand jurors` decision to charge Smith with only a misdemeanor offense indicated they were satisfied that he did not intentionally fire the gun at Sheriff`s Office Detective Scott Shoemaker.

``I`m not surprised by the grand jury`s findings at all, that it was a careless discharge of a firearm,`` Sheriff Richard Wille said. ``Smith said he didn`t know why it happened. That there wasn`t any intent.

``Whatever it was that triggered it, it was not done maliciously. And, obviously, the grand jury didn`t think so either.

``It`s very difficult to explain. It`s just one of those dumb things that happened and ended tragically.``

Wille said Smith violated office policy when he unholstered the gun during the meeting in the headquarters on Gun Club Road west of West Palm Beach.

One source at the Sheriff`s Office said many deputies were ``shocked`` at the indictment. Even though it was a misdemeanor, ``it was too much,`` the source said.

The language in the indictment charges Smith with improper exhibition of a firearm and says he exhibited the 9mm pistol ``in a rude, careless, angry or threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense.``

Smith, 41, a 14-year veteran who resigned following the incident, could not be reached to comment on the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail or a $1,000 fine.

When they met last month, the grand jurors heard Smith`s account of the shooting, which occurred during an afternoon meeting of four officers in a conference room in the headquarters building.

Monday morning, Shoemaker came from Miami`s Jackson Memorial Hospital rehabilitation unit to testify in the West Palm Beach courthouse.

Though Shoemaker will spend his life in a wheelchair, doctors have said they are optimistic about the 25-year-old`s ability to resume a relatively normal life.

After the hospital releases Shoemaker, Wille said he hopes to have Shoemaker back on the job sometime next month. Because Shoemaker will be unable to resume his activities as a detective, Wille said there is a criminal analyst position in the detective bureau waiting for him.

During an interview two weeks ago, Shoemaker said he is looking forward to getting back to work and to helping his wife, Mary, deliver the twins they are expecting May 1.

When contacted at the hospital Wednesday, Mary Shoemaker said the couple have been advised by their attorney not to discuss the grand jury`s indictment of Smith.

When asked about the shooting two weeks ago, Shoemaker had little to say.

``Everybody does stupid things in their life,`` Shoemaker said during the interview. ``That`s what Roger did and, unfortunately, I took the blunt end of it. He probably feels it mentally as much as I do physically.``

Shoemaker said Smith called him at Doctors Hospital in Lake Worth, where he was rushed after the shooting, to apologize.

``It was a very emotional discussion. He didn`t mean it, and I forgave him. . . . It got so emotional it only lasted about two minutes. We got to the point where we couldn`t talk,`` he said.

Smith was not required to post a bond. He is expected to be arraigned on the charge later this month.